Kristy Kiernan, Between Friends

Between Friends

Kristy Kiernan

Berkley, Apr 2010, $15.00

ISBN 9780425233474

In Naples, Florida Ali will always be grateful to her friend Cora who donated the eggs that enabled her to have a child. They became headline news with the miracle of modern reproductive technology. She and her husband Benny the cop love their fourteen year old daughter Letty, but now Ali wants a second child. She plans to persuade Benny and then talk to Cora, who has just come home after a teaching gig in Puerto Aysen, Chile.

However, Cora has just learned something about herself that will end Ali's plea for her to undergo the ordeal again before it begins. She must find the courage to explain to her BF that she suffers from Polycystic Kidney Disease, a genetic disorder that means dialysis rather soon and she fears Letty might inherit the diseases from her. Meanwhile Letty tired of being the miracle child is seeing Seth, a nasty teen with demands on her.

The relationships between the four prime players especially the two BFFs keep this character study from becoming a soap opera though it is a tearjerker. The lead four are fully developed to the point readers will hope for a second miracle. With a late unexpected twist, fans will enjoy Between Friends while waiting for the results of Letty's PKD tests.

Harriet Klausner